Saturday, May 4, 2013

Donald Roebling

Donald Roebling (1908-1959)

Donald Roebling is, indeed, not a household name these days. Born of a New York family that included the designer of Brooklyn Bridge (his grandfather, Washington A. Roebling), Roebling actually attended boarding school at the Stuyvesant School in Warrenton, Virginia for his high school years (class of 1926). Incidentally, the school was founded by a Mr. Edwin King that was a direct descendant of another New Yorker, the famous Dutchman Peter Stuyvesant.

Donald Roebling, some years after his high school graduation, was inspired to design a machine that could operate on both land and sea. His desire came from a wish to assist hurricane victims, as he had been living in Florida.

The result of his work was, however, a vehicle that caught the attention of the US Marine Corps, and would become known as the LVT -- Landing Vehicle, Tracked. He had called it the alligator.